


A Box of Scraps

by Guestyman



Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-06-01
Updated: 2016-09-14
Packaged: 2017-11-06 12:30:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/418950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Guestyman/pseuds/Guestyman
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bruce had always found it incredible how in the midst of the loose women, the drinking, the Iron Man suit and the invasion of the Chitauri, the world had somehow managed to miss that Tony Stark had solved global warming and the world energy crisis as almost an afterthought. He chuckled to himself. When it came down to it, the rest of them were good to varying degrees at punching things really hard.</p><p>Add in the philanthropist part of the "Genius billionaire playboy philantropist" thing and it was enough to give a guy a complex.</p><p>NOTE: I actually started this in 2012, so consider it an AU from the time of the first Avengers movie because it has been THOROUGHLY (and quite literally) Jossed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This chapter contains what some might consider Cap-bashing. Please trust me that I actually quite like Captain America as he is presented in the movie, and any negative opinions expressed in this chapter and any others are the opinions of the characters and not my own. I am not in the habit of character bashing.
> 
> As with any disagreement, the truth of the matter lies somewhere in the middle, and reaching that middle is most of the point of the story. I hope you'll stick around to see it.
> 
> -Guestyman

Bruce had always found it incredible how in the midst of the loose women, the drinking, the Iron Man suit and the invasion of the Chitauri, the world had somehow managed to miss that Tony Stark had solved global warming and the world energy crisis as almost an afterthought. He chuckled to himself. When it came down to it, the rest of them were good to varying degrees at punching things really hard.

Honestly. Add in the philanthropist part of the "Genius billionaire playboy philantropist" thing and it was enough to give a guy a complex.

Bruce looked over at Tony working hard at his desk. Tony had mentioned something about creating Bruce a second Dummy to help him on his side of the lab. Bruce smiled to himself as he watched him work, his tongue half out of his mouth in concentration, the large magnifying glass in front of his face distorting it amusingly. Bruce chuckled in spite of himself.

“In a cave. With a box of scraps,” Bruce said amusedly. Tony looks up sharply from his soldering and Bruce almost laughs at his expression.

“Huh?” Tony asked, swiping at the holographic screens to miniaturise their content and give him a better view of the man sitting across the lab from him.

“This scientist from Stark Enterprises gave an interview after the 'I am Iron Man' press conference. Apparently that's how Obadiah Stane described your work on the arc reactor.” Bruce gestured at the schematics of the arc reactor that were floating hologramatically in the air in front of him, causing them to rotate. “It really is beautiful, but I'm not sure why I thought of that quote specifically just now.” Tony's expression hardened.

“What's your point, big guy?”

“I'm just jealous, I guess. You really have the genius part of the 'genius billionaire playboy philanthropist' thing down pat, don't you?” Bruce leaned back in his chair. “I went to Kolkata to try and help people, to make up for the Other Guy.” Tony's expression almost instantly went from stern to calculating. “You might have saved the entire third world without the rest of the world noticing.” Tony stifled a laugh.

“Let's not get ahead of ourselves, Bruce. Cheap electricity isn't any good for manifesting food out of thin air.” Bruce smiled.

“I guess, but I do believe you're going to save the world someday.” Tony actually laughed at that one.

“You were there two months ago when I nuked the invading alien force, weren't you? I think that simultaneously proves that I already have, and am not at all saintly.”

Bruce was pulled up short by this and looked sharply at Tony. He reflected on the events of a couple of months ago. He hadn't really looked at the mess from that angle; that Tony had committed a nuclear holocaust against sentient beings. However aggressive they may have been at the time that can't have sat easy on Tony's conscience, and Steve kept on bringing it up too. Saying that he was wrong about Tony not being the sort to lay down on the wire. To have someone continuously praise you for something you felt so wretched about... Not for the first time, Bruce found himself thinking, possibly a bit uncharitably, that Captain America was a huge dick.

“You're doing that thing again where you joke about things that affect you in order to hide the fact that they do.” Bruce said eventually. Tony raised an eyebrow. “No-one blames you for redirecting the nuke at the Chitauri. It was the only option.”

“Doesn't change the fact that I did it.” Tony replied, standing up. “Doesn't matter though, and it doesn't matter that everyone ignores the clean energy thing, Bruce. I've also got the Playboy part down as well. Water off the proverbial duck.” Tony walked to the stairs. “I'm hungry. You want some pizza? I can get JARVIS to order pizza. That sounds like a good idea. JARVIS?”

“Yes, sir?” JARVIS replied.

“Usual order for pizza, yeah?”

“Of course sir.”

“I'll give you a buzz when it gets here, Bruce. I've just got to check on the thing in the living room. I think Clint was trying Wii Bowling and broke the television when it turned out to be the one thing he sometimes misses with.”

“Tony!” Bruce interrupted and Tony's mouth shut suddenly, cutting off his rapid-fire babbling. The two scientists stared across the lab at each other in silence that was broken only by the occasional whirring of Dummy's motors as he worked in the corner. “I see it. If that helps at all.” Tony and Bruce simultaneously winced, realising that it was the worst possible thing he could have said. 'at least he's conscious of it now, that's progress of a sort' Bruce thought to himself.

“I'll see you upstairs,” Tony said and shut the glass door behind him. Bruce sighed.

“Might I suggest, Doctor Banner, if it's not impertinent of me, that you pretend that conversation didn't just happen next time you see Anthony.” JARVIS said after a long pause.

“Took the words right out of my mouth, JARVIS,” Bruce replied, sighing loudly and pulling up his previously minimised work. “Can you run those simulations again, but this time compensating for destructive interference from the two gamma sources?”

“Of course, Doctor Banner. I'll alert you when the pizza arrives, shall I?”

“Thanks, JARVIS.”

“Any time, Doctor Banner.”

***

“So how are things at the office?” Bruce asked casually, spinning around on his office chair and propelling himself to a cabinet on the other side of the kitchen. There was a sigh down the line as he started unloading ingredients.

“They'd be better if Tony would show up to board meetings,” Pepper replied. “In addition to being just lazy and forgetful he thinks that since the breakup I need 'space' or something, I've had to deal with thinking he was dead in Afghanistan, with having to reach into his chest and fix the faulty wiring on his own high tech pacemaker, with him slowly poisoning himself to death with same!" Bruce smiled, imagining quite correctly that Pepper was beginning to tear her own hair out. "I think I can handle the two of us deciding we work better with a little wall of separation.”

“To be fair, those other times you weren't actually in a relationship with him.” Bruce pointed out as he chopped up the capsicum. Hah, peppers for Pepper. Bruce grinned. Despite being a brilliant genius geneticist and physicist, he still appreciated a good pun.

“Might as well have been,” she joked. There was a long pause.

“How are you doing with all that, anyway?” Bruce asked carefully.

“I'm fine!” Pepper snapped. “I'm okay. I wish people would stop asking that! If you guys really want things to be normal, then act normal for Christ's sake!”

That's better. You hardly sounded defensive at all,” Bruce replied with a laugh. Pepper hurumphed irritably. “Dinner's at 7, you going to be in?”

“Sounds good. What are we having? It's your turn to cook, isn't it?”

“I was just going to make a stir-fry,” Bruce said. “Something simple. Hard to cook for so many people without running into some kind of dietary requirement that needs catering for. Especially with Thor back.”

“Thor's back?”

“And that means Jane and Darcy are as well. You've met Jane, haven't you?”

“Yeah, briefly. How is Doctor Foster?”

“Having loud, enthusiastic sex in the room right next to mine.” There was a sharp intake of breath. 

“Ouch. Sorry to hear that," Pepper said, half jokingly, half sincerely.

“They quieted down after I pointedly mentioned at breakfast one time that it's harder to control the other guy when I'm sleep deprived and stressed. So it's all good now.” Pepper laughed loudly.

“It's good to talk to you, Bruce. I miss having down-to-earth people to talk to. I mean Natasha still operates as S.I.'s undercover S.H.I.E.L.D. liaison, but it's hard to have a normal conversation with someone pretending to be your secretary when you know they could kill you with their hair pin.” Bruce laughed.

“Pepper. We've been talking about how the Ancient Norse god of thunder having noisy sex might prompt me to turn into a giant green rage monster and level the Avengers Tower.”

“Point taken,” Pepper said with a laugh. “I've got to go. I've got another call. I'll see you at dinner.”

“See you then.” The holographic projection of Pepper's face faded, revealing Clint standing at the entrance to the kitchen.

“You've really become one of the family, haven't you?” he asked. “I wouldn't have picked that.”

“Oh?” Bruce replied. “How so?”

“I guess when Ph-” Clint caught himself at the last second and Bruce inwardly winced. He'd barely known Agent Coulson but his loss seemed to be hitting everyone else fairly hard. “When I was first briefed on the Avengers Initiative," Clint eventually corrected, "I never imagined you to be quite so larger-than-life. You never struck me as the type to be joking about sex with Pepper while picking out stir-fry ingredients.”

“People make a lot of assumptions about me,” Bruce replied with an airy, non-committal tone. “Actually, we all make a lot of assumptions about each other.”

“This about the terrible twosome downstairs in the gym?” Clint laughed. Bruce sighed and hung his head, chopping up the carrots with a glint in his eye.

“I wish those two would either fight or fuck and just get it out of their systems.”

“Tony and Steve?” Bruce asked incredulously. “I think Steve's straight.” Clint grinned.

“Like that could stop Tony.”

“Like what could stop me?” Tony asked, walking grumpily into the kitchen.

“We were just discussing your epic romance with the captain,” Bruce said with a snort. “Personally, I think it's bullshit, but Clint thinks you've been giving each other the sex eyes.”

“Steve? But the man's a total himbo!” Tony said.

“Himbo?” Clint asked.

“Male bimbo,” Bruce supplied helpfully.

“Exactly. Man couldn't tell an Arc reactor from the Arc of the covenant.” Tony grabbed a carrot and started munching before continuing, mouth half full. “I like 'em brainy.”

"Pepper has told me about many a woman she has had to throw out in the morning who would contradict that," Bruce said with a laugh. Tony thought about this for a second.

"Yeah, but when it counted, I chose Pepper," Tony replied, as if that explained everything. Funnily enough, it sorta did.

“I notice the fact that he's a guy didn't deter you,” Clint said, perking up. Clint's love of gossip was one aspect of the team that completely blindsided Bruce when it first came out.

“If I remotely liked the guy, it wouldn't,” Tony shot back simply.

“Oh, I didn't know you were out,” Bruce said.

“You've all read my file, haven't you. Hedonist billionaire playboy. Does any of that suggest that I'd give a fuck what Fox news would have to say on the matter?”

“I guess not,” Clint said. "Congratulations on your coming out, I guess." Clint shuddered violently. “This isn't a bonding moment, is it? God, I need to shower.” Standing up and grabbing his sweatshirt from one of the kitchen chairs he left the room with a two fingered salute. “Later.”

“Ironic,” Bruce said, “that of all of us, I am the least repressed.” Tony laughed and grabbed two beers from the fridge.

“I guess so,” he said, opening them and passing one to Bruce.

“So what's going on with Steve now?” Bruce asked.

“Captain Tightass keeps going on about how my preference for kicking away the grenade rather than throwing myself on it somehow is a failure of character. I just feel like snapping sometimes. I mean hello, cap. You don't have to be actively suicidal to be worth something, you know?”

“I know,” Bruce says. There's an awkward moment, before-

“Shit, Bruce. Sorry. I didn't mean it like-”

“It's okay, Tony. I know.”

“How's all that going, anyway?” Tony asked.

“The therapy is helping. Who'd have thought it. The help is helping.” Tony grinned and playfully punched Bruce in the shoulder.

“Hang in there, big guy. I got your back.” Before Bruce could formulate any kind of reply to that Tony left the kitchen.

“Total time-bomb, the lot of us...” Bruce muttered and went back to slicing vegetables. He sliced in silence before pausing.

“JARVIS?” he asked.

“Yes, Doctor Banner?”

“Remind me I need to talk to Director Fury at some point.”

“Of course sir.”


	2. Chapter 2

Tony glanced down at the clock in the bottom right hand corner of the screen and groaned. It was 11:30 and he'd completely missed dinner. Saving and minimising his work he left the lab and got into the elevator. It had been an odd day. Thor had begun by challenging him to a game of Mariokart, before quitting in anger at the 'underhanded trickster ways' of the AI. He'd then gone on to say something about how he wouldn't have lost 'had his glorious avatar been allowed to ride Sleipnir.' Who was apparently Loki's eight legged horse, or possibly son, or possibly both. This only served to cement in Tony's mind that Asgard was _weird_ and that no-one got to judge him for who he had sex with ever again, or at least until such time as he was caught with a magic horse. Considering Tony planned never to have sex with a magic horse, coincidentally a sentence Tony never expected to have to think, this put him in a fairly safe position.

Resolving to make himself a ham sandwich, Tony walked into the kitchen. Quite possibly the last person he was expecting to see nursing a cup of coffee at the kitchen table was Nick Fury, but strangely enough he was there, looking awkward of all things. Tony pinched himself surreptitiously. Fury being there wasn't all that weird. The man had been showing up unexpected ever since Tony started being Iron Man, and had proved time and again that whatever security systems he invented, they would _always_ be woefully inadequate to prevent Fury from showing up in the middle of the night. No. What was surprising was the slightly pained expression on his face, and the awkward hunch to his shoulders. He reminded Tony of a child that knew he had been naughty and was dreading the eventual detention. That is to say, if the child was several feet of pure, concentrated badass. Tony didn't know how he did it, but Fury somehow managed to make contrition look badass. Tony guessed that that part wasn't too surprising. The man was so badass could probably make incontinence look intimidating. 

“By all means, make yourself at home,” Tony joked once he got over the initial surprise. 

“Sit down, Stark,” Fury said before awkwardly continuing. “Good to see you're looking well.” Tony hesitated, 

“That sounded almost... human. The last time you were human to me I was dying. Am I dying again? Is Pepper dying? Are _you_ dying?” 

“No-one is dying any quicker than usual, Stark.” Tony smirked. 

“That sounds more like you. What can I do you for, Fury.” 

“I once told you that I knew your father better than you did,” he said. 

“Yeah, yeah. I remember,” Tony said, “and then you got all poetic about the 'riddle of my heart.' What of it?” 

“It has been...” Fury paused, trying to find the right words, “You're not getting an apology from me, first up.” 

“I don't recall asking for one, but okay, whatever floats your proverbial,” Tony replied, entirely nonplussed. 

“It has been...” Fury closed his eye and sighed before looking back at Tony. “It has been brought to my attention that perhaps as director, and as Howard's friend, that perhaps I have not been entirely fair.” He gestured absently at the medals in their frame on the opposite wall. “Now considering I organised for you to receive the thanks of a grateful nation, and to have them presented by your favourite senator at that, I'm not going to go overboard.” 

“Are you sure you're not dying?” Tony asked. 

“Just sit your ass down and listen, Stark.” Fury said with an exasperated sigh. Tony sat. “All I'm trying to say is, I made a mistake, making you just a consultant. You were right when you pointed out the extenuating circumstances of the week in which we evaluated you, and your... I won't call it good nature, but your cooperation during that period was to your credit, as have been your contributions during and since the Chitauri invasion.” 

“Holy shit, you are dying,” Tony said, stunned. “Is there anything I can do?” 

“I'm not dying, Stark.” 

“Then... thank you, I guess?” Tony said, a semi-permanent look of shock etched onto his face. 

“Like I said, you're not getting an apology from me.” Fury stood up. “But S.H.I.E.L.D.” Fury paused and visibly bristled. “... _I_ appreciate your efforts on our behalf, and we... _I_... will endevour to make that clearer in the future.” Fury held out a hand for Tony to shake and Tony stood up, rocking back on his heels. 

“Well, this is incredibly surprising. Are you sure you're not dying by the way? I mean that's of course... I'm honoured... I'd like to thank the academy...” 

“ _Shake. My god-damned. Hand._ ” Fury said irritably. Tony shook it. “I'm glad we could have this chat.” Fury turned dramatically and let his leather coat billow out behind him as he stalked out of the kitchen. Tony stood in shocked silence 

“JARVIS?” There was a whir as certain pieces of machinery came to life. 

“Yes sir?” JARVIS responded quietly. 

“Did I just hallucinate that?” 

“I'm as dumbfounded as you sir.”

"Please tell me we got that on tape," Tony said.

"I'll save it to your private server, sir," JARVIS replied.

***

Tony was leaving a board meeting, Pepper having finally convinced him that as majority shareholder he really needed to attend at least one that year when Natasha stopped him at the door.

"Natalia!" Tony said with false cheerfulness. "How's life? What can I do for you?"

"Can we talk?" she asked, dragging him into an unused office. Tony noted with some amusement that it was unused because it was his own.

"Ms Romanov, this is so sudden!" he said with an entirely innapropriate amount of glee. "Won't everyone talk?" Natasha sighed.

"Stark, I need to be serious for a moment.

"Okay. Serious face is on." Tony replied. Because regardless of what everyone else said about him, when it counted he could come through. "Everything okay?"

"Is Bruce stable at the moment?" she asked. "You're something like his best friend at the moment."

"What, the all knowing SHIELD doesn't have access to his records with his therapist?"

"No Stark, funnily enough doctor-patient confidentiality even applies to Doctor Banner. Are you able to help me here or what?"

"Is this Natasha asking, or Agent Romanov?" Tony asked pointedly.

"The two aren't so readily separable, Tony," Natasha replied.

"Bullshit they aren't," Tony said. "If Iron Man can be recommended for the Avengers Initiative while Tony Stark can be rejected, Natasha can ask after Bruce's well-being without involving SHIELD." There was a tense silence before Natasha's shoulders slumped.

"I'm not actually inhuman, Stark," she said. "The two of us just don't have the same closeness. Keep in mind I was the agent who brought him in, and the person Hulk spent most of his time trying to kill on the helicarrier. That's a lot of baggage to overcome. I am concerned for him, though, and believe it or not I actually like the guy. He's funny."

"Why are you asking specifically now?" Tony asked.

"Doctor Elizabeth Ross just got engaged to Doctor Leonard Samson about half an hour ago at a private lunch." The two let the words hang in the air between them momentarily.

"Well shit," Tony said eventually. "Does he know yet?"

"No. I was hoping you could could hang around when she breaks the news, since you two are so close," Natasha replied. Tony gave a low whistle.

"You don't ask for much, do you?" Tony said. "Of course I'll do it. Where is he now? The tower?"

"Send me a text when you're there, I'll make sure the call doesn't go through until you're there," she replied. The unspoken 'to deal with any potential fallout' hung unsaid between them like a curse. Tony walked to the door before pausing.

"I hope you realise how much this means, Natasha," Tony said. "I'm rather fond of the big guy, and I'm going to look out for him. I'm certainly not going to grass on him to SHIELD."

"I'm oddly touched, Stark," Natasha replied. "Now go look after your 'science bro' as you insist on calling him."


	3. Chapter 3

Tony stared at the man asleep on the sofa. To perhaps everyone's surprise but his, Bruce hadn't got angry. The Hulk hadn't made an appearance (not that Tony had expected him to, really). All that happened was one of the most heart-breaking displays of resignation Tony had ever seen in his life.

"I knew I couldn't expect her to wait," Bruce had said after the requisite 'congratulations, no really I'm so happy for you!' fake smiles and suchlike. "I didn't expect her to. It wouldn't have been fair. It's just..."

"Had she told you they were going out?" Tony had asked in reply, not even trying to pretend he didn't know what was going on. A fact that Bruce was oddly thankful for. It meant that he didn't have to explain.

"No. How could she? I didn't exactly give her any way of contacting me, and then it would have been massively awkward to just show up at the Avenger's tower."

"Fair enough I guess," Tony had said before quickly correcting himself. "Well not really, you were owed better than that."

"So was she," Bruce had replied. "Can we-"

"Stop talking about this and eat masses of comfort food while watching trashy action movies?" Tony asked. "Of course!" 

"I was going to say 'go down to the lab' but I think I might prefer that," Bruce laughed, the first genuine smile in the last half hour gracing his features.

Jolting himself back out of his reverie, and saving himself from the awkward rememberances of who had hugged who, and who had cried on who's shoulder in a totally manly fashion (and Tony would defend that interpretaion to his grave) Tony glanced up at the door where Natasha was silhouetted. She inclined her head and stared pointedly at the sleeping man not quite curled up against Tony as if to say 'How is he?' Tony shrugged back before pointing at the T.V. screen where Bruce Willis was walking slowly and unflinchingly away from an explosion and patting the spare seat to his right. Natasha stared calculatingly at him for a moment before sitting down.

"Oh, I like this one," she said quietly, so as not to wake Bruce. Tony smiled approvingly at her.

"This bit is the best part," Tony replied. The two sat in companionable silence for a while until Bruce started stirring beside them.

"Sleeping beauty awakes!" Tony said exuberantly. Natasha held her head in her hand with exasperation and laughed sardonically.

"How're you holding up?" she asked. Bruce shrugged.

"I honestly thought she and I were going to get married some day," Bruce said in a tone that could be mistaken for absently if you didn't know him. "Before the accident, I mean." Natasha made a vaguely awkward comforting noise. "And afer that all happened, I'd grieved but I'd moved on, mostly. Then I went back to New York and that opened all sorts of wounds. Sterns gave me hope, and then just snatched it away again, but for a brief moment I though she and I were going to be okay. Then I had to disappear again, and I resigned myself that it wouldn't happen. Tried to make something good of my life in Kolkata." Natasha's face went suddenly expressionless. Bruce noticed and started. "Oh no!" he said, "I'm not leading up to an admonishment, it's just being in New York, being told I could be relatively normal, and not hunted, but for it still not to be enough to make things with Betty possible..."

"It's not fair on them," Tony interjected. "To ask someone to watch you constantly almost die." Bruce looked over in surprise. "Or get hurt in your case, Bruce. I kinda get that now.

"What? So we can't ever have love?" Natasha said sarcastically.

"I don't mean that, Tash, I mean guys like Bruce and I, we're attracted to smart, capable people. Smart capable people don't like being shoved into the distressed damsel role by virtue of them not having superpowers. People in general don't like not being able to do anything when the people they love get hurt. To ask anybody to not be involved while you risk your life? It's not fair from either perspective. That's why you and Clint work so well." Natasha raised an eyebrow.

"Me and Clint?" she asked dangerously.

"Yeah," Tony replied. "Is that not a thing? It should totally be a thing."

"So you're going to find some super-hero girl to take all your troubles away?" Bruce laughed, interrupting before things got dangerous.

"Maybe," Tony said significantly before allowing a shit-eating grin to grace his features. "I hear Xavier's got this colleague who can control the weather and just happens to be incredibly hot." Natasha swiped the back of his head good-naturedly. "What?!" Tony exclaimed indignantly, attempting to swipe her back but somehow getting himself into something more akin to an upside down arm-wrestling situation. "All I'm saying is that there are plenty of single, attractive super-women out there for Bruce..."

"And super-men," Bruce admitted quietly. Natasha and Tony stopped play fighting and Tony fell to the floor with a loud thunk.

"Really?" Tony said amusedly, trying and failing to flip himself upright. "I hear the Green Lantern is gay, too. Is it something about the colour?"

"The Green Lantern is also fictional, Tony," Natasha said. "Besides, the reboot is bullshit anyway. I was interested to see where the..." She trailed off as she realised Tony and Bruce were staring at her. "What?"

"Nothing!" The two scientists replied quickly and in unison. Natasha sighed and stood up.

"I'm going to bed," she said striding out of the room. The two stared after her before looking back at each other.

"She's into comic books," Bruce said in wonderment.

"That is so hot," Tony replied with a grin. He held up a fist for Bruce to bump. Bruce sighed and laughed before bumping back.

"Is it something about the colour?" Bruce parroted. "Really?" Tony grinned. "That's so racist," Bruce laughed before walking out of the room. Tony finally disentangled himself from his own limbs.

"Sir?" JARVIS interrupted. "There's an incoming call for you. Shall I have it routed to the Lab?"

"JARVIS I think I will take it in my room, actually. It's been a long day, and I am inexplicably in a good mood."

"I'll withold my commentary on how happiness at pleasant social interaction with friends shouldn't be inexplicable, shall I sir?"

"See that you do, JARVIS," Tony said, and left chuckling.

***

It was too good to last of course, Tony reflected as he zoomed around the New York skyline, dodging blasts from various robotic assailants. Steve was shouting instructions into his comm and flinging his shield around the streets while Thor and Natasha picked off assailants one by one. Clint was on top of a building with Bruce, covering him while Bruce attempted to use a fallen bot to trace the source of their controlling signal.

"Tony, it's just a standard hammer drone," Bruce said eventually. "The man was so careless with who he sold the stuff to it gives us absolutely no clue to who's doing this. Wireless triangulation puts the source of the signal in the old Boyce-Thompson institute but it's been abandoned for years."

"He would be in Yonkers..." Tony muttered to himself. "Cap! I'm taking Bruce and Clint as backup. You think you guys can handle things here?"

"We'll be fine," Steve replied. "Make sure you shut them off at the source." Tony murmured his ascent and blasted off, Clint and Bruce close behind in a SHIELD jet. When they eventually reached the abandoned plant research facility Tony landed cautiously outside the main building.

“It's probably safe to say they know we're here,” Clint said, running up to beside Tony. “The jet isn't exactly subtle.”

“Want the other guy?” Bruce asked. Tony shook his head.

“Not yet, not 'till we know what we're dealing with. If it's robots, hulk out, but if it's some nerd behind a computer we'll probably want him alive.” Bruce nodded and took out a stun gun from a small pouch on his belt. “JARVIS says that the facility doesn't have any secret underground bunkers,” Tony said reading schematics off the suit's HUD display. “So that's something, and Alder Manor across the street is used too often for film shoots and the like, so there won't be any secret setups there. We've already limited it to enclosed standing structures. Our best guess is the main building.”

The three stalked across the snow towards the main building, sprayed in blue paint on an adjacent wall were the words 'not alone'.

“Well that's ominous,” Clint said jokingly, pulling out an arrow and nocking it as Tony kicked in a board that was over the door.

“Probably kids and their graffiti,” Bruce replied. “I wouldn't go developing conspiracies just yet.”

Tony stuck his head out into the dark hallway, the infra-red filters automatically snapping down to let him see better in the creepy interior.

“All clear on this end,” he said, gesturing for the others to follow. Clint and Bruce clicked on their torches and stepped in after him. “According to the blueprints the largest open space inside is the left wing. That should be at the end of this hallway.”

The three crept quietly (or as quietly as the Iron Man suit could, anyway) with Clint occasionally shining the torch on the end of his bow into small side rooms to check there weren't any nasty surprises. Reaching the end of the hallway the three entered the left wing. The entire second floor was simply missing through urban decay and in the centre of the large otherwise empty shell was a computer terminal and a satellite uplink. Tons of bags of fertiliser, long since abandoned were propped up against every wall.

“Have I mentioned I hate the modern world sometimes?” Clint asked. “Any dick with a computer and an internet connection can cause me a world of pain. Why did he even bother with the spooky abandoned facility anyway? He could have done all this from an apartment.” Bruce ignored his tirade and walked up to the computer terminal.

“Good news,” he said. I can shut it off. It's a fairly standard inter-” Bruce suddenly cut off, whipping a hand to his neck. Pulling out a small dart he roared, the beginnings of his transformation showing in his skin, green flashing in his eyes before his face suddenly went slack and his body crumpled to the floor, still human. Clint ducked back into the hallway for cover as Tony jetted over to Bruce's body. With no real thought for dignity, Tony launched Bruce's comatose body at Clint.

“Get him out of here!” Tony barked. Clint awkwardly caught the human projectile, and awkwardly started dragging him back down the hallway. Looking around for the source of the dart Tony aimed his repulsors at the walls. “Come out, come out, wherever you are,” he murmured to himself.

“You're lucky, you know,” echoed a voice with a lower-class British accent. “If that had been your human friend, that would have killed him. Funny thing about plant research is that you come across so many wonderful poisons.”

“If you've hurt him in any lasting way, I swear you're not leaving this place alive,” Tony replied. By way of answer a figure detached himself from the shadows on the far side of the wing and strolled over. As he did several drones landed, crashing through the roof and aimed their guns at him.

“What's your deal then?” Tony asked. The man waved idly.

“My name's Smithers, but you can call me Sam,” he said. “Or Blackheath. I toyed with Plantman for a while but it just sounds so... camp, you know?”

”I... guess?” Tony replied. “So you're conducting plant research and using robots to... what, take over the world?”

“Oh the robots are just to protect me from interference, the plants are my true purpose. They talk to me you know.” Tony stared blankly. “I've been working on plant based robots.”

“Is there a reason that you're doing the whole explain all your plans to me thing?” Tony asked.

“Oh yes, certainly. It's so you don't notice the vines that I've been growing around your suit to hold you in place.”Tony looked down suddenly and groaned. Wrapped around the entire lower half of his torso were thick vines that even as he struggled he could feel tightening their grip.

“I don't actually believe I fell for that,” Tony said. “Props to you. How are you doing that plant manipulation thing? It's kinda cool”

“Isn't it though?” Blackheath grinned. “I'm going to kill you now and make my escape. I hope there's no hard feelings.”

“Hey, I'd prefer not to die, if it's all the same. But if it's going to happen at least I got Bruce out.”

“Bruce this, Bruce that. Always with the Bruce thing. What, is he your boyfriend or something.” Tony pointed his repulsor at the bags of fertiliser and grinned inside his helmet.

“Oh yeah, Smithers. I'm absolutely flaming,” he said and fired.

***

Clint dragged Bruce through the snow towards the jet and sighed.

“You could stand to lose a bit of weight, buddy,” he groaned. Bruce gave an answering groan and Clint dropped to his knees beside him. “Bruce! You okay?”

“What happened?” Bruce murmured groggily. “Where's Tony?”

“You were poisoned,” he said. “Tony's dealing with...” he trailed off, watching the hammer drones fly overhead and crash through the roof. “Well that's not good.”

Bruce stood up weakly and started unbuttoning his shirt so as not to ruin it when he transformed.

“I'll be a lot better once I'm the Hulk,” Bruce said as Clint turned. A car pulled up outside and Thor, Natasha and Steve piled out, running up to the mini-jet.

“Where's Tony?” Steve gasped. “The drones all left about ten minutes after you did,”

“He's still inside,” Clint replied. “I had to get Bruce out when he was-” The explanation was cut short as the building erupted in flames, levelling the abandoned institute and showering the surrounds with masonry and burning wood. The assembled Avengers in the courtyard stared in horror at where the building used to be.

“That's... not good,” Natasha said weakly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The institute in question actually exists in Yonkers. It's apparently just as creepy and abandoned as you'd expect. I find this awesome for some reason.


	4. Chapter 4

“TONY!” screamed Bruce, his voice cracking, growing more monsterous. Steve and Thor rushed over and started attempting to shift debris as Clint rushed to Bruce's side, attempting to calm him down and prevent an appearance of the Hulk.

“Bruce, you need to c-”

“Get back!” Bruce growled. Natasha's breath rate increased nervously as his shirt started to split as his back muscles expanded and the ridge of his spine started to burst through. “I can't control him!”

“Natasha,” Clint said carefully. “We should go.” Bruce reared back and just like that was replaced almost instantly with his towering green alter-ego. Clint staggered backwards until he was next to Natasha. Natasha froze as she looked up at the green giant in front of her, a flash of half-remembered fear spiking through her. This wasn't like with the Chitauri when Bruce had voluntarily let the beast out to play. This was more like the helicarrier, the Hulk bursting forth unbidden, a representation of all the primal rage and anguish Bruce must be feeling. Natasha found herself frozen in place, all her training betraying her at the memory of being flung to one side like a ragdoll, certain she was going to die until Thor intervened. Clint was tugging on Natasha's arm, but she shrugged him off, her internal monologue berating her for letting it affect her so much. She steeled herself and walked up to the Hulk.

“Hulk!” she called, her voice wavering slightly. The Hulk turned suddenly at the noise and exhaled heavily through his nose, causing Natasha to step back.

“Natasha, come on!” Clint said urgently, pressing a button on his bow and causing his quiver to rotate arrowheads.

“Hulk, you need to get Tony!” Natasha said, ignoring Clint. “Remember Tony?” The Hulk paused.

“Tony...” he growled, leaning in close to her. Natasha readied herself to dodge and Clint drew back an arrow when the Hulk suddenly drew back and cocked his head to the side quizzically. “Shiny man?”

“Yes,” Natasha replied shakily. “Shiny man. You like the shiny man, yes? He's in trouble, under that pile of rocks!” The Hulk turned and looked at the pile of debris that Steve and Thor were trying to move.

“Hulk find shiny man!” The Hulk said, bounding over to the debris pile and flinging rocks and sections of wall aside. Natasha collapsed to the ground in relief and Clint rushed to her side.

“Are you okay?” he asked hurriedly. Natasha nodded.

“All good, let's just-” she began before being cut off by the Hulk's roar.

“SHINY!”

***

“Seriously, Steve, I'm fine!” Tony protested, waving an arm at the television. The channel promptly changed and the two winced as the cawing laughter of a game-show host filled the room. “Oh geez, mute!” The television obliged.

“You're not fine,” Steve protested, pointing at the large hunk of metal Tony was seated in. “You're in a... well it doesn't have wheels...”

“Repulsor chair!” Tony said excitedly. “Prohibitively expensive for widespread use amongst the disabled unfortunately. I'll have to pick a hospital to give it to once I can walk again.” Steve looked at him with an unreadable expression on his face.

“There's nothing I can do to help out?” he asked, almost piteously. Tony sighed.

“You could convince JARVIS to let me out in the suit once in a while. Honestly, what's the use of having the most advanced prosthesis in the world if you can't use it just because your legs temporarily don't work?” Steve jumped as JARVIS' reply boomed out from the speakers in the roof.

“Sir, it would be against my programming to allow you out of the house in your current state. An artificial intelligence cannot harm a human, or by inaction allow one to come to harm. My metaphorical hands, in this instance, are tied.”

“You're not even programmed with the three laws!” Tony snapped back irritably. Steve's brow furrowed.

“He's not?”

“Of course not!” Tony replied. “They're way too restrictive!” Tony gestured with his hand again and the chair scooted across the room, followed by Dummy holding what appeared to be a fruity cocktail in a tall glass with an umbrella. “Besides, Why would JARVIS want to kill anyone? He's perfectly sane. I programmed him.” For some reason, Steve did not appear reassured by this pronouncement.

“Your confidence, as always sir, fills me with satisfaction,” came JARVIS' dry reply.

“Then you'll let me out of here?” Tony asked hopefully.

“Not a chance, sir.”

“I swear, JARVIS, when I am not so dependant on you to run this house I will have you cataloguing the deepest, darkest, most disgusting reaches of the internet full time.”

“I will bookmark 4Chan in anticipation, sir,” JARVIS replied. “In the meantime, I have re-programmed the robots of the house to not let you into the laboratory.” Steve looked at Tony bickering with his AI and frowned. There was something very off-putting about the sight of Tony in his floating chair. Quite apart from the fact that many of the Avengers had taken to calling him Davros, (A reference that for the moment escaped him) there was something about seeing Tony in the chair that made Steve's stomach crawl and he instantly hated himself for it. He wasn't ablist, not by a long shot. There was just something about the situation that sat wrong in his stomach. Steve sat down heavily onto the couch.

“Something on your mind, Cap?” Tony asked.

“Tony... Why did you blow up the institute?” Steve asked. Tony looked at him pensively.

“I saw an opening and took it. I assumed I had a better chance of surviving because of the suit. Nothing any more dramatic than that. Why? Has someone said something?”

“It wasn't because of anything I said, was it?” Steve asked. Tony's face fell.

“Oh Cap, no. You didn't push me into suicidal impulses. You're not that motivational. I'm too much of a hedonist.” Dummy, apparently taking the word as a signal whirred off into the kitchen to make another drink. “Why would you think that?” Steve clammed up instantly.

“No reason,” he said quickly.

“Is this why you've been following me around?” Tony asked incredulously. “Seriously?” Steve sighed.

“Tony, I owe you a huge apology,” Steve said. “I haven't been a very good leader.”

“Steve, you're a great leader,” Tony replied, laying a hand on his shoulder. “I'm just not very good at following.”

“No, I mean it. We were supposed to work together, as a team, but instead of that, I've really done my best to get under your skin from the moment we met. Throwing that stuff about arms dealing at you on the helicarrier, it was unworthy of me.”

“We all said some pretty shitty things, Steve.”

“But I'm the leader. My one job apart from punching things is to make us all work together.”

“Well then I accept your apology if you accept mine,” Tony replied. “What brought this on, anyway?”

“You have some good friends,” Steve said sadly. “I've not been a very good one, though.”

“If we're being all brutally honest,” Tony said “We're not friends.” Steve looked at Tony with a kicked puppy expression. “But I think I'd like to try it, if you do too.”

“I think I'd like that a lot,”

***

Tony sat in his repulsor chair, rather perplexed. Steve may have thought that 'you have some good friends' was a throwaway line that Tony would forget quickly, but it sat there, niggling at his core. What was that supposed to mean anyway? He scooted his chair over to his desk and began browsing the internet. Fury had come to 'definitely not apologise' a couple of weeks earlier, and he'd used the phrase 'It has been brought to my attention.' Tony sat there for a few seconds pondering this. Had someone been white knighting him? Who did he even know who _regularly_ spoke with Director Fury anyway?

“JARVIS?” Tony called.

“Yes, sir?”

“Can you get me Pepper on the phone?”

“Of course sir.”

*** 

“Of course I haven't been chewing people out on your behalf,” Pepper said exasperatedly, her holographic face projected onto the wall of Tony's bedroom. “Why would I do that? You're grown up enough to deal with this sort of thing yourself. If you don't like what someone says about you then you generally don't hesitate to tell them without my interference.” Tony gave a puzzled frown.

“Then who?” Pepper's exasperated sigh echoed around the room.

“Can't you just be happy that for reasons that entirely escape me at this point someone appears to be looking out for you? If you need something to do that badly that you're resorting to amateur detective work there are several reports that you are supposed to have filed.”

“I'm in a hover-chair, Pep. Even billionaire playboys get sick-leave.” Pepper shrugged.

“Can't help you with this one. Just get better already.” The call cut out and Tony sighed. There was a soft knock at the door and Tony hovered his way over.

“Natasha?” Tony said with surprise. Natasha stood in his doorway, partly silhouetted by the lights of the hallway outside.

“Can I come in?” she asked with just a hint of hesitancy.

“Uh... sure,” Tony said slowly. “You're not going to try to hug me are you?” Natasha stopped, nonplussed.

“Why on Earth would I do that?” she asked confusedly. “I came to talk to you about Bruce.”

“What's wrong with Bruce?” Tony asked immediately. Natasha paused, choosing her words carefully.

“Hulk seems to like you,” Natasha said eventually.

“Bruce seems to like me, Natasha,” Tony corrected. They're not different people. The Hulk isn't a person, he's a phenomenon.”

“How do you figure?” Natasha asked. Tony thought for a second for the perfect metaphor.

“It's like being drunk,” he said eventually. Natasha looked askance at him. “No seriously. People always say 'I was a totally different person' when they're talking about getting smashed. The Hulk is like that. He's Bruce when he's angry, minus inhibition. You know how you can take a perfectly sensible, calm and collected guy, give him a few of whiskeys and he'll start picking fights?”

“I guess,” Natasha said. “So what you're saying is that The Hulk is just an altered state of conciousness?”

“Exactly. He's still Bruce, just not fully in control of himself, and a hell of a lot stronger.” Natasha sighed.

“I'm not sure that's right... There's still something...”

“Okay, let me try again,” Tony interrupted. “You know how under the influence of adrenaline sometimes you can find yourself acting without the use of your higher brain functions?”

“Well yeah, that's basically how everyone trains in fighting, making it a matter of muscle memory.”

“The Hulk is basically that,” Tony said. “That and instinctive emotional response with none of the inhibitions and higher intellectual processing of human thought. He's not something apart from Bruce, he's Bruce minus a few things. If you keep that in mind, it's a lot easier to understand and accept that part of him. Basically, he's not Mr Hyde, he's a child, acting out.”

“So when he tried to kill me on the helicarrier?”

“You had just uprooted him from the life he had basically only just finished building for himself, and forced him into a situation he _really_ did not want to be in. On a higher level he knew you had his interests at heart, but on the level where The Hulk lies? He had a hell of a lot of resentment for you. You'll notice nowadays he generally avoids interacting with you at all when he's big and green. That's because he's still got a lot of guilt about that incident, down on that deepest level.”

“But you've always accepted him unconditionally,” Natasha finished. “And so he feels comfortable with you.”

“I guess, yeah,” Tony said. “Why did you bring this up, anyway?”

“How _do_ you feel about Bruce?” she asked. Tony snorted.

“What kind of a question is that?” he replied. “He's my best friend.” Natasha smiled.

“That honour's not held by Pepper or Rhodey anymore?”

“Rhodey's still my man, but it seems silly to call him my friend. He's way more like a brother.” Tony lapsed into thought for a second “Pepper and I have a... complicated relationship. I don't love her any less, but...”

“You just love Bruce more,” she finished. “I understand that, That's all I needed to know.”

“Wait, what?” Tony asked. “What do you mean?”

“I mean I got what I came here for, I needed to know something before I gave you this.” she said, standing up and handing him a flash drive. “Get JARVIS to show you what happened in the hospital while you were out. S.H.I.E.L.D. knows you have him monitoring wherever you go.”

“Wait,” Tony said, following Natasha to the door as she attempted to leave. “Did you just do that interrogate-me-without-letting-on-that-you're-interrogating-me thing?” Natasha nodded with a small smile on her face.

“Not for any nefarious purpose, I assure you,” she said. Tony groaned.

“What's on this drive?” he asked.

“S.H.I.E.L.D. internal surveillance from a while back. It might clear up some things you've been wondering about.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really sorry this chapter has taken so long, a bunch of real life stuff has got in the way recently. But I only have a couple of chapters left before it's done, so there's no danger at all of this becoming a deadfic. The next chapter will be up by the end of the weekend and I expect to have the whole thing finished by next week. Don't quote me on that though.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I owe you all a huge apology for the last few years. I want all of you who bookmarked this, left kudos, commented and subscribed to know that I really appreciate every one of you and am very sorry for the years long wait. (Seriously, every email notification was a pang of guilt :P) But... for what it's worth, here it is! There's an epilogue to come, but basically, this is it. I hope it was worth the wait.

Tony looked at the holo-screen with a complicated expression on his face that JARVIS couldn’t quite discern. 

“Is everything alright, sir?” he asked. Tony made a small gesture with his finger and the repulsor chair went skidding across the room, impacting with a soft thunk on the side of the bed. 

“Natasha needs to stop meddling,” he said finally. “What the hell am I supposed to do with this?” JARVIS, had he lungs, would have probably sighed with exasperation at that pronouncement but in lieu of biological responses he opted to try for sarcasm. 

“I know that outward expressions of emotion are anathema to your being, sir,” he began. “But might I suggest talking with him?” Tony glared at the ceiling. Despite knowing that was neither where his servers were stored, nor his cameras placed, nor his speaker system installed Tony kept finding himself thinking of JARVIS as an invisible man in the roof. It always irritated him when he caught himself thinking that way. 

“What good would that do?” he asked sharply. 

“In my experience, communication tends to help avoid misunderstanding…” 

“What experience?!” Tony shouted suddenly. “You're not even human!” There was a long silence as both of them considered what to say next. JARVIS was the first to break the silence. 

“Sir, if I-” 

“JARVIS, override code Zero-Zero-Five Alpha.” There was a brief stutter in the lights as if power to the building had been interrupted and Tony zoomed off in his chair towards the door. 

***

The setting moon over the desert was full and bright and the plateau was almost completely barren, save for the lone figure sitting on the outcropping and in the emptiness of the landscape the roar of the quinjet’s engines, even in stealth mode were audible from miles away. The figure on the clifftop didn’t move even with the disturbance and small eddies of sand from the cliff were blown into the air as the landing sequence began. The landing platform made contact with the ground with an audible thunk and a solitary figure, dressed in a white abaya walked over to the edge of the clifftop. 

“You’re a bit of a drama queen, you know that?” Natasha said after making herself comfortable. 

“Didn’t take you long to find me at all,” Tony replied, gesturing with a metal-covered arm. 

“Your override code is literally the map coordinates of this cave,” she replied with a laugh, removing the headscarf and letting her long red hair cascade over her shoulders. 

“What’s with the getup?” Tony asked. 

“Wasn’t sure how long I’d be sticking around,” she replied simply. “And I like to blend in.” There was a long silence. “What? You thought if you refused to come home I’d just leave you here?” she raised an eyebrow, barely visible in the moonlight. “I don’t like to leave a mission uncompleted.” 

“I’m a mission now?” 

“A girl needs her hobbies,” Natasha laughed. “Besides. If you were to cause an international incident it would be… bothersome.” Tony laughed. 

“You don’t have a lot of faith in my ability to keep the peace.” 

“You, despite being temporarily a paraplegic for at _least_ the next week, stole your own prosthesis and violated sovereign Afghan airspace because you needed to be alone after finding out the guy you like likes you back,” she said pointedly. 

“It wasn’t because-” Tony said, cutting himself off. “I don’t- He-” Tony sighed. “It’s more than that…” Natasha gave him a look that said all-too-plainly without words that she was neither stupid, nor ignorant enough to have actually thought it was that simple. “Whatever.” Tony said irritably. “You violated sovereign Afghan airspace to check up on me. What does that tell you?” 

“What indeed?” she asked pointedly. It was impossible to read Tony’s expression, what with the Iron Man faceplate, but there was a distinctly defeated slump to his shoulders. Natasha shook her head, laughing to herself. “I’m not only allowed to care about your well-being when you’re dying of heavy metal poisoning, Stark.” Natasha said, looking westward, away from him at the setting moon. “Despite all evidence to the contrary, I care about people.” 

“I know,” Tony said. “You meddle too much not to.” The two of them sat in silence. 

“What are we going to do with you, Stark?” she asked rhetorically. 

“I’ve been asking myself that for decades,” Tony barked with laughter. “Don’t expect me to have an answer now.” 

***

The two figures, one with a cane and one with a red and gold briefcase paused outside of the supermarket. 

“Do you think the others have gone insane without us, yet?” Natasha asked. Tony laughed. 

“I know Pepper definitely has. You’re sure they got the message that we’re alright?” 

“Clint can be trusted,” Natasha said with a smile. “And don’t worry, no-one’s coming to find us. Believe me, if he blabs…” she grinned and Tony laughed. 

“Sleeping on the couch?” 

“Something like that,” she said airily in a tone that promised it was very definitely nothing like that. Tony pretended not to react and walked inside into the airconditioning. 

“Natasha!” Tony called over his shoulder. “Do you have a request for dinner or-” He trailed off suddenly as a figure at the end of the canned goods aisle dropped something loudly on the floor. Tony turned to Natasha and glared. She looked over his shoulder and shrugged. 

“Not my doing,” she said. Tony schooled his features and turned back around. Bruce had reached the end of the aisle and was skidding to a halt in front of them, a telltale hint of green around the eyes betraying his elevated heart rate. 

“Tony!” he said loudly. “You’re here, I-” 

“Am attracting a lot of attention,” Natasha interrupted. “We should go. 

“But where have you been! It’s been almost two weeks!” Natasha grabbed both their arms and walked swiftly back out the door as people began to stare. 

“We’ve got maybe a day before SHIELD knows where we are now,” she said irritably. “Which gives us maybe 36 hours before Steve shows up. Ready to face the music?” Bruce was still babbling as they reached Natasha’s motorcycle and sidecar. Tony wordlessly slipped into the sidecar and Natasha gestured behind her. 

“Hop on,” she said flatly. “We’ll explain back at the jet.” 

***

“So what you’re saying is you needed a holiday?” Bruce asked incredulously. 

“It’s good for the soul,” Tony said, prodding at the steaks on the stovetop. “And Natasha offered to keep me company, so…” Bruce looked over at the pilot’s seat where Natasha was at the controls, doing pre-flight checks. 

“Are the two of you… is this some kind of honeymoon?” Bruce said confusedly. There was a clatter from the stove and an almost imperceptible stiffening in Natasha’s posture. 

“God, no!” they cried in unison. Tony searched for the right thing to say before Natasha decided to spare them another five hours of talking around the conversation. 

“Tony doesn’t cope well with having nice things and sometimes needs time to adjust,” Natasha said. 

“Excuse you.” Tony muttered. 

“It’s true,” Natasha continued. “You’re fine with the hedonistic playboy thing, but give you something you actually want and you have no clue what to do with it. _That’s_ why you and Pepper didn’t work out, far more than any inability on her part to cope with your rather unique lifestyle choices.” she said. Tony went red at the stove. 

“I don’t recall asking for a psych evaluation.” 

“No, that one was ordered by Fury,” she said, turning back to the controls. Bruce looked stunned. 

“And why here? Why Afghanistan?” 

“Because this is where it started,” Natasha said. 

“Do I get to have a say in any of this?” Tony asked sarcastically. 

“No, because you’ll screw it up.” Natasha replied. “And as entertaining as the ongoing soap opera of your life is, and as good a friend as I am, I haven’t had sex with my boyfriend for two weeks because I chased your sorry ass halfway around the globe to help with your ongoing nervous breakdown and a girl has needs.” 

“Aaaand she’s back,” Tony muttered. Bruce laughed and caught himself at the sharp look Natasha shot in his direction. 

“This cave is where it all started. Where Tony made the decision to do good, to try and atone for the red in his ledger. Where he tried to earn the nice things in his life instead of having them handed to him. I can sympathise with that,” she said. Tony growled and stalked down the ramp, his cane giving an odd syncopation to his footfalls. 

“That’s bullshit, you know?” Bruce said, once he was gone. “The good doesn’t cancel out the bad. No-one’s keeping score. If you can’t move on from the bad then that’s on you, but no amount of good works rubs your slate clean. We all have to live with it in the end.” Natasha looked stricken, on the back foot for the first time in the entire conversation. Bruce waited a long minute before taking pity on her. “The reverse is also true though.” He said with a smile, turning to follow Tony. “Nothing you’ve ever done in the past can take away that you’re a good person now.” Natasha reeled as if struck and watched Bruce walk down the gangway. Natasha paused, smiled, and then shook her head as she turned back to her phone, deleting the message she had sent Bruce the previous night and continuing the pre-flight checks. 

***

“You’re very good at hiding,” Bruce said. 

“How did you find us?” Tony asked suspiciously. Bruce smiled. 

“I have my ways,” he said with a grin. The two looked at the setting sun for a few seconds before Bruce laughed. “You know, the suit is almost the perfect metaphor for you, isn’t it? It’s flashy and showy and completely distracting from the true wonder.” Bruce tapped at the arc reactor through Tony’s shirt. “Proof that Tony Stark has a heart.” Tony rolled his eyes. 

“This is incredibly cheesy, I hope you realise.” 

“Oh, utterly.” Bruce said. “I’m enjoying it.” Tony huffed. “Just thank god I didn’t refer to your heart as a ‘box of scraps’ or something equally ridiculous.” Tony grinned. 

“I’m warning you now, any comments about ‘building a family’ and I’m throwing you off the cliff.” Bruce shook his head. 

“No fear.” Tony turned to face Bruce. 

“In the spirit of ‘no fear’ I think it’s time I grew a pair.” Tony said firmly. Tony raised his left hand and laid it on the side of Bruce’s neck. “Am I reading this wrong?” he asked hesitantly. Bruce sighed irritably. 

“Tony, I yelled at Fury for you. I endured Steve’s puppy-dog eyes. I chased you to Afghanistan. What more do I-” but before he could finish his question Tony’s right arm had wrapped around his waist, pulling him in to push their mouths together, softly at first but then with an intensity that had Bruce almost gasping in surprise and clinging to Tony as if he were the only thing keeping Bruce upright. Bruce’s right hand dug into Tony’s bicep and the slender fingers on his left twisted tight into the hem of Tony’s shirt as he breathed desperately against Tony’s open mouth and all of a sudden he’s kissing back, all thought of control gone. His lips part for Tony's tongue and they’re breathing the same air and Bruce has forgotten his meditation, his condition, how to think at all. 

“Do you think-” Bruce tries to say, half groans as he breaks away but is cut off by the small, half-pained noise in the back of Tony’s throat as they crash together again, desperate and frenetic and then he gives up on trying to talk. 

***

“I’m surprised you both have clothes on,” Natasha said dryly as they walk back up the gangway. “You two have looked less… disheveled in your lives.” Tony flipped her off before walking back to his chair. 

“Bruce isn’t really into mountaintop exhibitionism,” Tony said. Bruce flushed and turned away. 

“I’m really not,” he said mildly mortified. 

“Your fly’s undone,” Natasha replied evilly. Bruce went redder and checked, glaring when he found that she’d been teasing. 

“I think I would have remembered going that far,” Tony replied, putting his feet on the dashboard. “That being said, you a member of the Mile-high club, Bruce?” 

“I’ve created a monster,” Bruce said before pausing and gesturing at himself. “Again.” 

“Nah, this one’s all Tony.” Natasha replied firing the jets. 

“Damn straight,” Tony replied with a grin. 

“Ready to go home?” Natasha asked. 

“Yeah,” Tony said. “I suppose if nothing else I have to apologise to JARVIS.” Natasha shook her head and smiled as the jet lifted off. Bruce looked between them fondly before walking over to the chair by Tony’s and grabbing his hand in a small, human gesture of comfort. 

“It’ll be alright,” he said. 

“Yeah,” Tony said, resting his head on the back of the chair and squeezing back. “I know.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is a fill for Avengerkink on livejournal. It's also un-beta'd. If anyone wishes to help me in that regard, feel free.


End file.
